Can It Last?
by nicoleb
Summary: Gala and Songi find that they can bring each other more comfort than they ever would've thought, but can it last? Two-shot; Gala/Songi; slash; post-story; non-canon.
1. Chapter 1

**Yo yo yo! ^_^ This is a Gala/Songi two-shot (huge surprise, right? :P) and the first part of a birthday fic I wrote for Barako. Part one is being posted a week before her birthday (I hope - I suck at math XD). Originally it was only going to be a short fic, maybe two or three pages, but it got way out of hand, which shows how obsessed I am with Gala/Songi right now. ^^**

**I'm sorry I never write birthday fics for anyone else. This thing just came to me in a huge flood of inspiration, and I didn't want to resist it. With any luck, I'll be able to get some inspiration for some of my other friends sometime soon. :)**

**Warnings: Gala/Songi; slash; non-canon; mild sexual references. Originally I rated the story M just to be safe, but Barako and I agree that it's probably no worse than a T. There's no sex, but it's semi-vaguely referred to. Please be wary if you don't like reading that kind of thing, and be sure to submit your thoughts on the rating if you don't think it's appropriate. Thanks!  
**

_Chapter 1_

"How much longer do you think we'll be able to keep doing this, Songi?"

Gala had lost count of how many times he'd asked this question, and he'd lost count of how many times Songi had responded with the exact same answer.

This time though, the red-head didn't answer at all. It took Gala some moments to realize he was dozing, which he could only tell by sound because Songi currently had his back to him.

Impatiently, Gala reached out and shook him roughly by the shoulder. Songi's bare skin felt warm and sweaty under his fingers, but Gala doubted he was much better. These meetings always exhausted them both, one way or another.

In fact, even just thinking about their relationship was enough to tire out Gala. After all, they'd gone from best friends, to rivals, to mortal enemies, to reluctant allies, to... this, all in under three years.

Despite that, Gala never regretted his decision in the Seru-kai all those months before, the decision that had been the only thing that'd kept his former best friend from dying a horrible death in that sacred dimension. Well, his decision _and_ Ozma's words to him just before they'd left the wasted Rim Elm to pursue Songi.

_'Gala, there's... there's something you should know.'_

_Gala turned his attention from the small bag of supplies he'd been slowly setting in order and focused instead on his Ra-Seru._

_"What is it, Ozma?" he asked softly. He didn't want to disturb Vahn and Noa, who, like him, were busy making sure they had everything they needed to enter the Seru-kai._

_'You don't...' Inside Gala's head, Ozma's voice seemed to falter for a moment. 'You don't want to... kill your friend, do you? Songi, I mean.'_

_Gala felt something cold stirring up inside him. It was something he'd been trying to ignore for several months now, and something that had been becoming increasingly hard _to_ ignore. Especially after what had happened less than an hour before._

_"He's not my friend anymore, but no, I don't. I don't like killing anyone if I can avoid it - even that miserable bastard."_

_Gala's fists clenched. He sure wouldn't mind pummelling Songi to within an inch of his life, though. He deserved nothing less after what he had done. Not only had he betrayed his own people, killing several of them in the process, he was also the reason Gala, Vahn, Noa and their Ra-Seru now sat in a town that had been completely engulfed by the evil Sim-Seru Juggernaut._

_The town was Vahn's, and practically everyone he knew had lived there, not to mention Maya, who had been almost like a mother to Gala and Songi. Vahn hadn't said much since the village had been swallowed, but his pale, set face and tense body had shown his feelings anyway: Vahn was terrified, terrified that his family and friends would be lost forever to the terrible monster, just as Noa's parents had been._

_'If you truly mean that, Gala...' Ozma's quiet voice snapped the man out of his thoughts. '...Do not fight that man in the Seru-kai. Lure him out of the place if you can.'_

_"Why?" Gala asked, still taking care not to let the others hear him._

_'Meta and Terra don't want me telling you this. Even now, they're urging me to keep silent, but... But you're my partner, and I can't lie to you like this.'_

_"What are you talking about?"_

_'The Seru-kai is a place intolerant of ordinary humans. Whatever that man tries to claim, he _is_ only a mere human aided by the immense power of others. If you hurt him enough to separate the Sim-Seru from his body, Songi will be nothing but an ordinary human again, and the Seru-kai will reject him.'_

_"'Reject?'" Gala repeated dully. He didn't like where Ozma was going with this. Not at all._

_'He will die,' the Ra-Seru said simply. 'The dimension will rip him apart from the inside-out, and he will die.'_

_Gala felt himself shudder involuntarily. Ozma ignored this._

_'If, however, you manage to get him outside of the Seru-kai, Songi will merely separate from the Sim-Seru, and assuming you don't use too much force to do that, he should live. He's an insolent, power-hungry tyrant, but he's not an evil person. I know what the influence of a Sim-Seru can do to a person; it brings out the evil within them and makes them into blood-thirsty monsters. And I also know...'_

_Ozma paused for a moment, and Gala could feel his hesitation before he next spoke._

_'I know you wouldn't have once held Songi in such high regard if he'd been as bad as he has appeared to the rest of us.'_

Gala owed Ozma an enormous debt for his trust and warning, a debt he'd now never be able to repay. It was because of that trust and warning that Gala had been able to make his own decision on whether or not he wanted to spare Songi. Granted, it hadn't taken him long, since what he'd said to Ozma - about not wanting to kill a person if it could be avoided - was true, and Songi, despite everything, _had_ been his friend once.

But it had still been an awful choice to have to make. Before Gala had been able to completely make up his mind, Songi had used the power of his Sim Ra-Seru, Jedo, to transform into a formidable, hideous monster that had borne almost no resemblance to the man Gala had known for so long.

Then, Gala had been left to think, as he, Vahn and Noa struggled for their lives against the evil beast, _Is there any of him left in that thing? Is it worth the risk of setting it free upon the inhabited world? If we can't defeat it, the entire world could be..._

And then Gala had remembered something, something that he hadn't thought about in over two years.

It had been Gala's eleventh birthday, and Songi had spent several weeks making him a new pair of sandals to replace the old, slightly undersized ones he'd been wearing before that. Even though he was terrible at weaving, or at making anything really, Songi had put everything he'd had into making the sandals, and they'd turned out so well that they'd ended up lasting Gala until he outgrew them three years later.

Gala, much more open back then than he was now, had thrown his arms around Songi's neck in delight and told him he was the best friend in the world. Songi, slightly embarrassed, had returned the hug for a few seconds before firmly extricating himself.

"Now you have to be super-nice to me for the rest of the year," he had said with a grin, to which Gala had laughed heartily and replied: "Well, I'll be super-nice to you for the rest of the day, at least."

And that memory, so vivid it could've happened only a week ago, quickly brought forth other ones, and eventually they were so numerous that they seemed to be flooding Gala's brain, even as the abomination that had once been his friend continued trying to decapitate him and his companions.

_Songi asking Gala for the reading of every third kanji from their reading homework, insisting that he knows them all already, that he's just making sure _he_ does._

_Songi, whooping and cheering as he runs through the monastery, Gala hot on his tail as he tries to catch up._

_Songi telling some older Biron monk who was picking on Gala the previous day that, next time he messes with his best friend, he'll have to answer to him, and earning himself two black eyes in the process._

_Songi laughing his lungs out as Gala tries to wrestle away the small rock-candy he is holding just out of his reach._

_Songi, on his fifteenth birthday, staggering and giggling from his first-ever hard-alcohol drink, putting an arm around Gala and telling him that he's his best friend in the whole world, like a brother to him, and Gala, not yet old enough to drink, chuckling in amusement at the effects of the alcohol before awkwardly pulling himself out of Songi's half-embrace and telling him he's glad to have him as a friend as well._

And Gala had made his decision: _He wouldn't kill Songi. He couldn't._

With the power of his Ra-Seru, and perhaps Vahn and Noa's as well, Gala had, at the last minute, managed to get his enemy back through the gate to the land of Legaia, just as the Sim Ra-Seru separated from his now-restored human body and disintegrated into the air.

The Seru-kai had then begun to expire then, shaking all around the three heroes so much that they'd been knocked off their feet and unable to follow Songi out of the dimension. The Great Genesis Tree had been damaged too greatly to continue sustaining the worlds, it seemed. But just as all seemed lost, the prophet Hari, whom everyone had believed gone forever, had appeared and, with his powers, bought them enough time to escape and return to their own world.

They'd then been transported to the top of Mt. Rikuroa, where they'd found Songi, unconscious, covered with many bruises and scrapes from their fight, but otherwise unharmed.

_"What do we do with him?" Noa asked, looking at their enemy cautiously._

_Before anyone could answer, Songi gave a low groan and stirred. He'd been lying __face-down__ on the ground, and he instinctively rolled over onto his back and elbows, probably as a preparation to sit up. Before his back had risen more than a few inches off the ground though, Songi found himself face to face with the sharp point of Vahn's Chaos Breaker sword._

_"Don't move," the boy said coldly, the weapon steady in his right hand._

_Songi's eyes traveled slowly from the sword to the three heroes, but he made no other movements. Clearly, he didn't believe Vahn wouldn't have any qualms with killing him if he thought he was a threat._

_Noa likewise aimed her Heavy Strike claw in the same direction as Vahn's sword. After a brief hesitation, Gala also drew his Power Club weapon, although he secretly doubted Songi was in any condition to fight them right then._

_"You..." Vahn said, his voice trembling with barely-suppressed hatred. His grip on the sword did not falter, though. "My... My whole village may be _dead_ because of you!"_

_Vahn shouted those last words, and it seemed to be taking everything he had not to thrust the Chaos Breaker forward into the former monk's head._

_Gala froze. He hadn't counted on this. Of course, Vahn had every right to want to kill Songi after what he had done, but somehow, Gala had never imagined he would. Like him, Vahn never killed a fellow human being outside of self-defense. He had always been a peaceful, mild boy, and seeing people suffer was the thing that pained Vahn the most. But now..._

_"Give me a reason," Vahn said, more quietly, "_one_ reason, Songi, why I should let you live."_

_Songi swallowed, and for a moment his eyes met those of Gala's. Gala thought he saw fear there, but not much. __He seemed__ too groggy and dazed to feel much. Nevertheless, he managed a small, shaky smile and said, in an only slightly unsteady voice:_

_"Gala wouldn't like it. I mean, back there, in the Seru-kai, as soon as you guys got that damned thing off me, my body felt... l-like it was being torn apart from the inside." _Almost word for word to what Ozma said,_ Gala noted dimly. "I think if I'd been in that place __even __a few minutes longer, I would've died. But Gala made sure I wasn't, and somehow, I doubt that was an accident. Do you?"_

_Songi laughed weakly._

_"I guess I should be thanking you, oaf, even though no one else probably will. And you know..." Songi looked back to Vahn again, still smiling. "...Even if I die here, at least I got to live to see myself smash Gala's face into the dirt without drugging him. Wearing that miserable thing probably wasn't much better, but what the hell. And hey, I know it's still only one to three - actually, a lot more than that. But at this point, I'm willing to settle there."_

_Gala noticed Songi's continued negative referral to his former Seru. It __appeared__ the thing really had been controlling him a lot more than he would've liked. __But then__, how m__any__ of Songi's terrible crimes had been committed by his own will, Gala didn't know._

_"What the hell are you talking about?!" Vahn demanded in disgust. "Father and Nene, Mei and Maya, Master Tetsu, Ixis, the elder... I might never see any of them again because of what you did!"_

_Songi's smile faded, and for a split second, Gala saw, plainly, deep sorrow and regret on his face. But then Songi's expression cleared, and he smirked._

_"Go ahead and kill me, then," he said calmly. "No one will care much, and it's the only way all your dead friends and relatives will ever get to rest in peace."_

_Gala didn't know afterwards if Vahn would've risen to this bait and murdered Songi in cold blood. On the one hand, he knew Vahn, and he knew he wasn't that kind of person. On the other hand, the look in Vahn's eyes after Songi had made that cruel - and worse, potentially true - jeer about everyone he loved chilled Gala for a long while afterwards._

_Whatever Vahn would've done, and Gala had never dared to ask him, the former Master Teacher didn't risk it._

_"Vahn, no!" he shouted, leaping forward and wrapping both arms around the boy's sword-arm._

_As he managed to wrestle the deadly point of the Chaos Breaker away from its target, his own weapon dropped from his hands. In an instant, Songi, fatigued as he was, had darted forward and grabbed it._

_While Vahn and Gala continued to struggle, their adrenaline not allowing them to do anything else, Noa rushed to try to stop Songi. She was able to slash him hollowly __on __the side of the face with her Heavy Strike claw as he passed her, but it didn't produce the desired effect of making him stop. All it really did was add yet another cut to the numerous ones __he__ had already._

_Not even bothering to stop, Songi struck out at Noa with Gala's club, and though he didn't succeed in hitting her directly, he did hit her hard enough to send her sprawling, out of his way._

_In the few seconds it took Vahn and Gala to come to their senses and stop struggling for control over the sword, and for Noa to get shakily but quickly to her feet, Songi had already put a great distance between himself and them._

_He was a great runner, both long- and short-distance. It'd been one of the few things he'd always beaten Gala at. And he was further aided by the fact that he was running downhill. There was always the slim hope that he was too injured to run far, or that he might trip and twist his ankle on the uneven terrain, but Gala knew, even as he, Vahn and Noa began to give chase, that their chances of catching up to him were about as high as the chances of Rim Elm's people surviving their ordeal._

And sure enough, they hadn't caught him, and eventually they'd been forced to turn their efforts towards defeating Juggernaut and Noa's brother, Cort, in Rim Elm. Afterwards, after the monster had been destroyed, the Seru-kai had begun to disappear, and Meta, Terra and Ozma had given what had remained of their short lives to restore all the residents of Rim Elm and Cort back to life - after all that, Gala had been able to think more about Songi.

The king of Drake Kingdom had been informed, as had the small number of villages in that region, that one of the dreaded allies of the Mist was still alive and at large. Posters had been put up, the royal knights had been discharged, the neighboring kingdoms had been informed, and Songi had, in a very short space of time, become the most wanted man in Legaia.

Gala hadn't seen him for some time after that. He'd returned to the Biron Monastery to resume his duties as Master Teacher. Vahn had gone travelling with his childhood friend Mei to see the now-Mist-free world, and Noa, with her reincarnated brother, had gone to live in Buma with Cara and Grantes, two friends the heroes had met during their journey.

Gala had still kept in contact with Vahn and Noa, and occasionally seen them, but for the most part he'd confined himself to the monastery. It was easier, he'd found, to lose himself in his training than to face his emotions. Besides, he'd been sure for a long time that Vahn and Noa must surely hate him, in a way, for sparing Songi - although he'd since learned that wasn't true.

It hadn't been until about three months after Rim Elm had been restored that something of note had happened.

Gala, unable to sleep, had gone outside the monastery late one night for a breath of fresh air. He'd had a nagging suspicion for a few days that someone was watching him, and the feeling had grown even stronger when he'd ventured outside. After a few very uncomfortable minutes of inwardly jumping at shadows and thinking he heard footsteps that were probably just night-creatures, Gala had suddenly been grabbed from behind by a strong arm and, while placed in a choke-hold, felt the sharp edge of a knife at his throat.

_"Don't yell," a low voice hissed in his ear._

_Gala went rigid, not daring to move even a muscle. He knew that voice. He'd know it anywhere, even though he hadn't heard it in so long, and rarely so quietly._

_"I'm not going to kill you," the voice continued. "I just want to talk to you. Okay?"_

_"Okay," Gala managed to gasp, struggling to breathe with the other man's arm wrapped around his neck._

_He was released, and he staggered back, clutching his bruised throat. __Then, t__urning slowly and carefully around, Gala saw him._

_Songi looked much the same as he had when Gala had last seen him, save for the fact that he, like him, had grown at least an inch taller in their time apart. His hair was also a little longer at the back, but somehow he'd managed to keep it tame, or as tame as Songi's hair could be. Likewise, his face was clean-shaven, and he appeared to be at least moderately well-fed and kempt; he hadn't lost any of his muscles, and his clothes were clean and relatively __untorn.__ Gala realized he must've been stealing supplies from somewhere._

_"I'm sorry I grabbed you like that," Songi said, though he looked more distracted than sorry. "I couldn't risk you yelling out when you saw me."_

_"How do you know I won't do that now?" Gala asked coldly, massaging his sore neck._

_Songi grinned, but he still seemed mostly preoccupied._

_"I guess I don't. But then, you were always a pretty honorable person. I hated that about you. Still do, in fact, but it's kind of serving my purposes here. You're not going to yell out because you said you wouldn't. Sure, you said it while I had a knife to your throat, but I still think you're going to keep your word, at least until you hear me out."_

_Gala glared at him, more because he was right than for any other reason._

_"I see you've been keeping yourself pretty well," the younger man said stiffly. "I guess you'd rather steal from people than try to live honestly."_

_Songi laughed, and for the first time, his distracted look lessened slightly._

_"Thanks to you and your buddies, Gala, if I tried to get a job, I'd be waking up in Drake's dungeon the second someone realized who I was, which wouldn't be too long, and I'd have a noose around my neck less than a week later. Besides, I haven't been stealing for a while."_

_"Oh, right," Gala said sarcastically. "I forgot about that huge stash of gold you kept hidden under your bed."_

_"Ha-ha. Actually, Maya has been giving me things."_

_"Maya?!" Gala almost shouted, then forced himself to speak more quietly. "_Maya_ has? F-For how long? And why didn't she..." _Why didn't she tell me?

_"About two months," Songi said. "When I first got away from you guys, I tried living in the wilderness, but that didn't last long. I couldn't risk making a fire out in the open, and raw meat... Damn, Gala, you know I love my meat rare, but even I have my limits! And I didn't want to eat any of the fruit or mushrooms I found in case they were poisonous."_

_"That was oddly insightful of you."_

_"Actually, it was my dad. He used to take me camping all the time, and he always told me not to eat anything I found in the wild."_

_Gala raised his eyebrows. Songi rarely talked about his parents, even to Maya, __whom he'd told almost everything when he was younger__. All Gala knew was that Songi's mother had died when he was a baby, and his father, a somewhat well-off crop-farmer, had brought him up alone. Gala and Songi had lived in the same village before being brought to the Biron Monastery, but they hadn't met until after their village had been attacked by Seru, killing Songi's father and both of Gala's parents._

_"Anyway," Songi continued, a little flustered. The comment about his father seemed to have slipped out unintentionally. "That wasn't the only reason. My clothes were ripped to shreds in just a few days, and my hair was getting far too long. _And_ I was starting to grow a damned beard. A _beard_, Gala. Could you imagine how bad that would look on an perfect specimen like me?"_

_Gala sighed impatiently. Songi seemed more concerned with losing his good looks than with __being__ captured and executed._

_"So how long did you last out there?" he asked. Songi looked a little embarrassed and shuffled his boots._

_"Two weeks."_

_Gala suppressed a contemptuous laugh._

_"Still longer than I expected. So I suppose you stole from villages and such after that, right?"_

_"Obviously," Songi said with no trace of shame whatsoever. "But then people started seeing me, and I was afraid one of them would recognize my face - even though those posters of me are _incredibly_ inaccurate - and tell someone who mattered. Eventually I got desperate enough to go to Maya, and she... Well, she helped me."_

_"Maya is far too forgiving," Gala said, but his anger was directed more at Songi than at her._

_Songi, who'd been looking periodically around throughout their conversation, presumably for any other people, looked back at Gala, and the younger man saw a bitter smile tweak his face._

_"Oh, I know," he said evenly. "That's why I went to her. When I apologi- I-I mean..." Songi dropped his gaze briefly. "When I saw her, Maya told me it wasn't my fault, it was all the Seru's."_

_"She's wrong," Gala said coldly. "I know that thing corrupted you, and I know you never would've killed anyone if you hadn't been stupid enough to put it on, but you have to have a lot of evil and greed in your heart to begin with to be controlled by a Sim-Seru, and _especially_ by a Sim Ra-Seru."_

_"Sorry for being human, Gala," Songi snapped back, lifting his head again and glaring at him. "I'm sure you would've been just fine if the Ra-Seru you'd buddied up with had turned out to be one of Cort's as well. But I didn't come here to argue with you."_

_"Right," Gala said, and looked at the knife still clutched in Songi's right hand. He had no means of defending himself against that..._

_"I haven't come to kill you," Songi said, as though reading his mind. "I meant what I said before. Even if I wanted to, and I don't, I know it would destroy Maya. I won't do that."_

_Gala was surprised at the sincerity in Songi's voice, and despite everything, he found himself almost believing him._

_"Well, then," he said, a little uncertainly, "what do you want? If you came for food, I can't-"_

_"I don't want anything. Maya gives me everything I need, and I've found places where it's safe to hunt and start fires. And she gave me some advice on what sort of fruit and stuff I can pick out in the wilderness. Basically, if it's not a berry or a mushroom, it's probably safe. The reason I came here is because Maya told me to."_

_"What?" Gala looked at him skeptically, and Songi shrugged._

_"Well, she did. She told me there was no point in living if I had to be alone all the time, and she knew you'd forgive me."_

_"I don't."_

_"I know. That's what I said. But Maya thinks the world of everyone. You know that."_

_"So... So what, you want to come into the monastery and greet everyone?" Gala said with a bitter scowl. "I suppose they might be willing to give you a last meal before they lock you in the cellar and send word to King Drake's knights."_

_"Great. It's been a while since I ate in company."_

_"What, then?" Gala asked, much more seriously. "Songi, I..." He swallowed. "I'm glad you're alive, I really am. And I'm glad you're not living like an animal, even though you deserve to. But what you did... I can't just-"_

_"I know." Songi nodded slowly. His expression said all too clearly, 'I told her so.' "But I promised Maya I'd try. I'm hiding out in a cave in a small forest near Rim Elm, to the south. You know the one?"_

_"I think so, but-"_

_Songi waved his hand impatiently._

_"Yeah, yeah. I'm not completely fine with telling you where I'm hiding, either. Maya assured me you wouldn't rat me out, and I kind of believe her, considering how eager you were to let me live before. But I still don't like telling you. The fewer people who know where I am, the better. But, if you feel like coming to see me - and believe me, I would be perfectly happy if you didn't - you'll find me there for the next few weeks. I change locations all the time to be safe, but if you go to the cave and I'm not there, just talk to Maya. I always tell her where I am."_

_Without waiting for an answer, Songi turned to go, the knife glinting in the moonlight as he moved._

_"See ya," he said carelessly, not even looking back. "Or, probably not, but at least it'll keep Maya off my back for a while."_

_And before Gala could reply, Songi had slipped away into the darkness, leaving nothing but the sound of chirping crickets behind him._

**Whew! XD Well, that's it for now. The fic starts off a bit clustered, but it all comes together at the end. I won't wish you a happy birthday yet, Barako, since it's not for another week, but hopefully the fic is okay so far. ^^ And as always for anyone who reads this, please point out any typos or such that I make, and give constructive criticism if you have it. I really want to improve. Thanks! :)**


	2. Chapter 2

**Yay! Here's chapter two, published on Barako's birthday as promised. This fic probably seems a bit rushed and might've been better as several more chapters, but what the hey. Hopefully it works out all right. ^^**

_Chapter 2_

It had taken Gala a long time to take Songi up on his offer - another month, in fact. He'd tried to put the meeting out of his mind, pretend it had never happened. But even if he _hadn't_ had that swelling bruise on his neck for several days afterwards, Gala doubted he could've imagined such an incident.

He'd had no real desire to see Songi and probably wouldn't have, if not for his next visit to Maya and Mei in Rim Elm. The way Maya had looked at him, so hopefully, so trustfully, Gala had been unable to stop himself from taking her aside within the first few minutes of arriving and telling her about his meeting with the wanted man. In the same conversation, he'd asked for Songi's current location, which, by that time, had changed to a cave closer to the monastery. Maya's look of delight had almost made everything seem worth it.

Later that day, after he'd left Rim Elm, Gala, not in the least bit sure why he was doing it, had sought out Songi in his new hiding place. He'd half-expected, and hoped, not to see him there. But sure enough, the minute he'd stepped into the cave, Gala had encountered the sight and smell of mushrooms and some kind of bird roasting over an indoor fire. And sitting beside it, lazily tending to the food, had been Songi.

_"You!" Songi almost squeaked, jumping to his feat. "You scared the ever-loving hell out of me!"_

_Gala didn't answer right away. He was looking around the cave Songi was briefly calling home. It was quite small, more than a little dank and, apart from the fire, two blankets and a small bundle of supplies in the corner, completely empty. With an annoyed grunt, Songi sat back down and went back to preparing his meal. It didn't smell very appetizing, but then, he'd always been a lousy cook._

_"It'd take a lot more than me to scare all the hell out of you, Songi," Gala said dryly, sitting down opposite him and looking at the roasting food. "And I thought you said you didn't pick wild mushrooms."_

_"I don't," Songi said, just as dryly. "Maya gave me these ones. I hate mushrooms, but apparently they're good for me, so I guess I'd better eat them."_

_"You're doing it all wrong," Gala said wearily. "The fire, I mean. The way you're roasting it, everything's going to burn black before it cooks. You have to _turn_ the stuff as you roast it, and... Oh, here. Let me do it."_

_Without invitation, Gala leaned forward and snatched the stick Songi had been using to tend the fire __out of his hand__._

_"Fine," Songi said, leaning back against the cave's wall as Gala began turning the meat and mushrooms. "Just don't expect to get any because you're helping me."_

_"As tempting as it looks, I don't think I want any."_

_"Good. Because you're not getting any."_

_There was a long, heavy silence between them, the crackling of the fire the only sound._

_"So how are things at the monastery?" Songi asked after they had been silent for several awkward minutes. "Is Zopu still on everyone's asses?"_

_"Everyone who steps out of line, yes."_

_"Oh, of course. You're too perfect to ever get on his bad side. Perfect, perfect Master Teacher, never one to-"_

_"We got into trouble all the time when we were kids," Gala interrupted him. "When I was stupid enough to listen to you and go outside of the monastery, or when we sneaked extra food from the kitchens."_

_"But as you got older," Songi said, unmoved, "you became too good to hang around with lowly old me, right? You were too busy kissing up to everyone."_

_The bitterness in Songi's voice shook Gala. What he was saying wasn't really true. Their increasing training duties had forced them both to spend less time in leisure, which had ultimately meant they'd had less time to spend together. But the fact that Songi believed __his own story__, and actually seemed to _care_ that Gala had abandoned him, was surprising._

_"I never thought I was too good for you," Gala said after a moment, turning over a mushroom. The meal wasn't really improving much. He'd have to stop cooking soon, or it'd be completely charred. "I wanted to keep being friends with you. I even let you get away with drugging me at that Transmigration Festival. I could've told everyone what you did, but I kept quiet. The only reason Master Zopu found out was because the healer told him."_

_"You didn't tell anyone because you knew it'd make you look bad," Songi said stubbornly. "That's the same reason you took the Jigul grass from me too, even though it was obviously a trick."_

_"The reason I took the Jigul grass from you was because I _trusted_ you, Songi. Stupid, I know, but I did. And the reason I didn't tell anyone what you did was because I wanted you to feel like you had worth again, since beating me clearly meant so much to you."_

_"Yeah, right," Songi scoffed. "You didn't care about me, any more than Zopu or the other monks did. There have only been three people who've ever really cared about me - my parents and Maya."_

_Gala resisted the urge to sigh out loud in exasperation._

_"Just because someone isn't constantly telling you you're wonderful or letting you have your own way all the time," he said, forcing himself to stay calm, "doesn't mean they don't care about you, you stupid idiot."_

_"Great tautology there, Gala."_

_"I'm amazed you actually know that word. Anyway, food's ready. Or, as ready as it'll ever be."_

_Gala poked the blackened mess out of the fire with the stick __and __towards his companion. Songi didn't seem overly perturbed by its appearance, probably because it was better than what he'd been having for a long time. Unceremoniously, he scooped up a large handful of mushrooms and bird - Gala noticed several charred feathers still clinging to the meat - and stuffed it into his mouth._

_"Delicious," he said flatly with his mouth __full.__ "You've really outdone yourself this time."_

_Gala didn't know why he kept rising to the older man's baiting, especially since he'd never really done that before Songi had betrayed the monastery, but he couldn't seem to stop himself._

_"I did what I could after you'd been at it, and it's a lot more than I thought I'd be able to do."_

_"Great," Songi said, picking up another handful of food. "Then again, you're amazing, aren't you? What can't you do right?"_

_Gala didn't answer this time and just let him eat his wretched meal, eager for the disgusting sight and smell to be gone as quickly as possible. Luckily, Songi was a very fast eater, although he was also somewhat messy as well. Several pieces of burnt meat and mushroom ended up on his shirt, and he didn't appear to notice._

_In less than two minutes, Songi had made short work of the food, washing it down with a few long sips from a water canteen from his supplies. Sighing in something that could've been either satisfaction or disgust, he leaned back against the cave wall opposite to Gala. He surveyed him with an unreadable expression on his face._

_"You're welcome," Gala said, after the other man had been staring at him for a good thirty seconds. Receiving no reply, he added, somewhat nervously: "Why are you staring at me?"_

_"No reason. Come here, though. I want to show you something."_

_That unreadable look was still on his face, and Gala felt a chill run down his spine. Songi rolled his eyes._

_"I'm not going to kill you. How many times do I have to tell you?"_

_Yielding reluctantly, Gala consented to edge around the still-crackling fire and seat himself at least a meter from Songi._

_"What is it?" he asked, eyeing the bag of supplies in the corner rather than his companion. "I really can't stay long. I just-"_

_He was cut off suddenly by Songi throwing himself at him and, before he could so much as attempt to defend himself, pinning him up against the cave wall. If he'd been left that way for even five seconds, Gala's first thought would've been that Songi did, after all, intend to kill him._

_But he wasn't left like that._

_His powerful arms still pinning him against the solid stone, his face as unreadable as ever, Songi leaned forward and pressed his lips against Gala's, kissing him hard and deeply._

_Gala tried to struggle away, but he was held fast. His heartbeat started to speed up double-time, and he began to gasp for air through his mouth, which only served to draw his assailant closer to him._

_Songi's breath smelled of the charred dinner he'd just eaten, but even more than that was the smell of desperation. The hands clutching Gala's shoulders leaked of it too, clenching and kneading around them in turn._

_Gala couldn't think, he couldn't get away, and he couldn't breathe. Songi was going to kill him __after all__, suffocate him with his desperation. He began to grow lightheaded, and his struggles lessened._

_Just as black was beginning to coat the corners of his eyes, Gala felt Songi's lips separate from his. The Master Teacher drew in long, shuddering breaths, his body limp. After gasping for at least __twenty seconds__, he opened his eyes - he didn't even remember closing them - and looked at Songi. They stared at each other blankly for what felt like years, until Gala, his voice trembling with a combination of rage and shock, muttered:_

_"What the hell was that?"_

_Songi's blank look was replaced by anger, and he glared at Gala in hatred._

_"Shut up," he rasped. There was a hungry, almost insane look in his eyes which scared Gala more than he ever could've admitted. "Gala, shut up. You always talk when I don't want you to, and I'm sick of it. Right now, we're going to do what _I_ want, and what I want..."_

_He leaned forward and pressed his lips against the brunet's again. The kiss was more gentle this time, but still teeming with desperation and domination. He kneaded Gala's shoulders, seemingly intentionally this time, and Gala felt himself give an involuntary groan._

_Songi drew back as soon as he heard this, a look of triumph in his burning eyes._

_"Don't ask me why I'm doing this," he said. His voice had gotten incredibly husky. "Because I don't know myself. But-"_

_"Songi..." Gala wheezed, almost pleaded, "we're... we're both _men_! This is wrong!"_

_Songi looked back at him, unfazed._

_"Who says?" he asked. "Oh, right. Biron. Except that I don't believe in him anymore. I stopped believing in gods a long time ago."_

_"Apart from yourself," Gala couldn't help saying._

_Songi grinned. He seemed genuinely amused._

_"You admit I'm godly, then." His smile disappeared, and his voice lowered: "Wanna make out with a god, Gala?"_

_"Oh, I actually get a _choice_ this time?"_

_Gala could not believe they were having this conversation. Of all the people to share his first kiss with, whether he wanted to or not, he never would've believed _Songi_ would've been the one. Not only did Gala have a difficult time thinking of him as anything but a former friend and enemy, he also had no idea why __Songi__ would want this from him anyway. Surely, having no one to do this with was better than... than..._

_"You get a choice, Gala," Songi said, breaking into his thoughts. "Aside from the fact that I don't think I'd be able to keep restraining you forever, I'm not the sort of guy who goes out of his way to kiss someone who doesn't want it."_

_"Is that just a pride-thing?" Gala asked, even though he already knew the answer._

_"You know it is. So just yes or no, Gala. _Do_ you want me to kiss you again?"_

_"I... I don't know."_

_Gala heard the words leave his mouth, but he couldn't believe them. His answer should've been 'no,' and then he should've been knocking the sick bastard to the ground and running out of there as fast as he could._

_But his lips were tingling where Songi's had covered them, and goosebumps were rising on his shoulders where Songi was still holding them, and his head felt almost as light as it had when he'd been unable to breathe, and his entire body seemed to be trembling, and..._

_Smiling, Songi moved forward and touched his lips to Gala's again._

After that incident, which he had abstained from thinking about for a long time afterwards, Gala hadn't seen Songi for at least another month, though they'd parted from each other fairly civilly, considering.

"Come see me again if you want," Songi had said, leaning against the outside of his cave as he saw his guest off. "I'll be around."

And eventually, Gala _had_ come to see him again, though at a different cave, and from there, it had become a pretty regular habit. So regular that they'd begun planning set days, and Songi, despite his insistence that he didn't need anything from him, had started to request specific foods and other supplies. These Gala always brought, and Songi always accepted without a word of thanks, as though he took it for granted that Gala would do whatever he could to help him.

On these meetings, sometimes they talked, sometimes they just sat in silence, and sometimes they even laughed together. Always, though, they ended up doing what they'd done in that cave the first time, at times going less far than they'd gone that day, but most of the time going much further.

Songi had strength to overcome Gala when they did this, something which he'd never had anywhere else and which Gala knew meant the world to him. Although, probably the only reason for this was because Gala spent most of his time training and sparring with his students, while Songi, though he kept his strength from travelling and hunting, spent a lot of his time cooped up inside caves. Gala had a feeling a lot of the energy Songi didn't get to use in everyday life was spent on him. He had no chance against him in that respect.

But even so, Gala still didn't regret saving him. For the most part, he didn't think about what they did together, except when it was happening, and at such times it was pretty difficult to think much anyway. He did think about Songi a lot in other ways, though.

For one, Gala knew he was genuinely sorry for what he'd done, for all the lives his arrogance and greed had taken. He didn't cry in front of Gala, and it was doubtful he ever would, no matter what. But Gala knew Songi _did_ cry, when he was alone. He saw it in his eyes when he occasionally let his guard down around him, along with the deeply-veiled regret and remorse. Obviously one could've said he only cried because of the way he was now being forced to live, in constant fear and isolation, but somehow, the brunet knew it was more than that.

And for another thing, Gala couldn't bring himself to think of what his life would've been like if Songi had died in the Seru-kai. He knew he would've been haunted by it for the rest of his life - not just by the memory, but also the guilt of knowing he might've been able to stop it, and the endless curiosity of what things might've been like if he had stopped it.

Of course, Gala lived in constant fear that Songi might be caught, despite all the care he took. He'd considered offering to collect the needed supplies from Maya himself to decrease the risk, but since Maya was the only other person Songi saw besides him, and since Gala knew the woman would be heartbroken if she and Songi stopped seeing each other, he'd relented.

And so, in a fruitless attempt to relieve all this worry, practically every time they saw each other, Gala always asked the same question, 'How much longer do you think we'll be able to keep doing this?' for which Songi, unsurprisingly, never had a proper answer.

After several insistent shakes from Gala, Songi was pulled out of his stupor, and he mumbled in sleepy annoyance: "What did you say?"

They were sleeping under two blankets in a small cave in West Voz Forest - Songi refused to step into the East Voz Forest after what had happened there - and it was just past daybreak. Songi had been hiding out at this particular location for just over a week, and Gala had arrived late the previous day. They'd been seeing each other like this for almost six months now.

The two never 'cuddled' in the strictest sense after their exploits, but they did have a fairly faithful tradition of dozing together for an hour or so, usually back to back, but sometimes with the tips of their skin touching.

"I said, how much longer do you think we'll be able to keep doing this, Songi?" Gala repeated.

An exasperated sigh.

"You woke me up just for that?"

"Tell me."

"Whenever one of us decides this place is too risky, and I move to another one, just like the last fifty times."

Gala had noticed that Songi seemed to have matured somewhat in the time he'd become a fugitive. Granted, he still made his share of tasteless, unfunny jokes, and he still had to have the last word in everything, but he was nevertheless a lot better than he had been. The prolonged isolation undoubtedly had a lot to do with it, but the knowledge of what he had and had almost done was probably the main cause.

"You know that's not what I meant," Gala said.

"Then until I get caught or have to flee this country, as I keep telling you."

Unlike any of the other numerous times he'd received this answer, Gala was struck by a sudden, awful thought, and his hand dropped weakly from Songi's shoulder.

"You're not going to leave behind my back, are you?"

"What?"

Songi turned slowly over so that he was facing him. His eyes were still etched with tiredness, but this was mostly overshadowed with curiosity. Gala swallowed.

"I mean, I'm not going to go and see Maya one day and hear her say you didn't tell her where your next hiding place will be, am I?"

Songi hesitated, then said: "Would that matter?"

"Yes. To her _and_ to me."

Songi laughed easily. It was a nice sound, as it mostly lacked the spite and malice his laughs had been made up of for so long, but right then it wasn't much of a comfort.

"You just like the sex," he said.

"That's not true, and you know it."

Songi closed his eyes for a moment before opening them again and placing a hand gently on his companion's shoulder. The sensation comforted Gala more than the laugh had, but not much.

"I love you, you know," Songi said, squeezing his shoulder a little, then quickly taking his hand away.

Gala stared at him in weak astonishment. Songi had _never_ said that, during sex _or_ otherwise. Songi returned his stare with comical irritation.

"What, all those times I threw myself on you didn't tip you off?"

Gala flushed and averted his gaze.

"I... I thought that was just a lust-thing," he admitted reluctantly. "I mean, I know you started caring about me a little after a while, but I didn't realize..."

"It _was_ a lust-thing, to begin with. But then... I don't know. I can't really think what things would be like if I didn't get to see you. I guess Maya really did know what she was talking about. She usually does."

Gala smiled and looked up again. Songi returned his smile, a little sheepishly.

"Point is," he said, "I love you. I have no idea why, since you're just a stupid, whiny oaf, but life is weird sometimes. I'm not going to just up and leave you. If I do have to leave Legaia, I'll tell you before I do, or if I can't do that, I'll write to you when I'm safe."

"And if you're caught?"

"Well, I guess I'd be pretty screwed then. But at least it'd be quick, and-"

"You wouldn't be. _I'd_ save you."

Songi laughed again, more quietly this time. He didn't really seem to believe him. Probably, some part of him - the part the Sim Ra-Seru had so ruthlessly manipulated and expanded - thought Gala would rather see him hanged or beheaded than jeopardize his position as Master Teacher.

But it didn't matter. Even if Songi didn't believe it, Gala did, and this thought, along with Songi's assurance that he would tell him if he had to flee, comforted him enough to draw out what felt like his first real smile in a long time.

"I love you, too," he added, barely above a whisper.

As Songi nodded impassively, Gala moved forward and, breaking with their tradition, took the man in his arms.

**D'aaaw! :D Happy birthday, Barako! I hope the Gala/Songi birthday-slash was enjoyable. I had a lot of fun writing all that Gala and Songi interaction. ^^**

**As a quick author's note, please note that I wasn't trying to have a go at any religions in this chapter. It's just that, Legaia being the medieval setting it is, and Biron's philosophy having several weird rules (like not being able to laugh O_O), I wouldn't put it past that god to forbid homosexuality. Besides, as Hikari No Aijou and I have already established, Biron is so amazing, he can even change genders! ;D**

**Thanks to Barako and Hikari No Aijou for pointing out some typos, and to Hikari No Aijou for giving me some very helpful advice on super-long sentences. XD I haven't had the time to look through any of my work properly yet. But I'll definitely be making a point to edit sentences that are too long to read comfortably in one breath, as Hikari No Aijou appropriately calls them. ^^**


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